Chapter 96

Shared Fate

“We wept at the gates of hell, only for those tears to burn us alive.”

Chronicles of Dawn

Though Noah put up a somewhat nervous front, his eyes darted around the entire hall, scanning as many faces as he could. Some of them glanced at him with scorn, and a couple even with sympathy, though he was mostly ignored. The general attitude was obvious, though even he didn’t expect it to be this bad. This will be hard…

He sighed inwardly, a desire to rub the bridge of his nose nearly overcoming him. However, he knew that from hereon, he’d have to play his cards perfectly if he wanted to take away anything. There was a bottom line he wasn’t willing to secede, but he had hoped to achieve more than just that. After all, this endeavor was extremely costly, and even with Lo’kret there to sign and spread Olivia’s glory, that would take time to provide benefits.

“Light Mother,” the first one to speak was Ymmir himself, who stood up with a bow and focused his gaze toward the floating woman. “This humble one seeks permission to speak.”

“…” the woman said nothing, merely nodding. She really is at around King’s level of importance… Noah mused inwardly.

“This humble one’s city has suffered tremendously,” Ymmir said with an even tone. “Though we have no proper numbers yet, dead are in tens of thousands, and structural damage will take years to completely recover from. As You may know, this humble one’s House is already under dire straits; I am afraid we are unable to fund the period of recuperation ourselves. This humble one seeks help.”

“… true,” the woman nodded. “You have suffered, indeed. I’ll personally confer House Myrsell with twenty thousand Royal Crowns, and will task someone with establishing workforce to manage the repairs.”

“Endless gratitude, Light Mother,” Ymmir said with a bow, barely hiding a content smile on his face. “You truly are monogamous.” That’s cheap, Noah sighed inwardly, eyeing everyone. Though twenty thousand Royal Crowns sound like a lot, they are woefully short of being enough to repair the fort to its previous state. I’m guessing the rest will come from either taxes or Royal Family…

“Why don’t the rest of us pledge a thousand Royal Crowns each for reparations?” a man sitting right next to Noah, Second Prince Sigmund himself, suddenly proposed. Ah… so that’s it…

“Good idea.”

“Young Ymmir and his House truly have suffered.”

“It is right to do so.” Nods and chatter of approval soon swallowed the hall, and the moment Noah saw Sigmund turning his head sideways, he had to swallow a string of curses.

“It won’t be a problem, will it, Dear Dacent?” the Prince asked with a faint smile, though one hardly masking the scorn he felt.

“It is right to do so,” Noah echoed the sentiments. “The majestic fort had saved countless lives that would have otherwise been lost. Its walls stood tall in the wake of the raging fire, and thus should be afforded proper reparations.” Noah probed silently with his words, scanning the facial expressions of latecomers; to no surprise, quite a few flinched and glanced at him coldly, though a few merely smiled knowingly to his surprise. Prince Sigmund snorted lowly and turned his head away. Ymmir, too, shot him a grateful look, though Noah maintained a slightly nervous face, pretending not to have seen it.

“I agree with Dacent Noah,” Lymena suddenly joined with a playful smile. “As a matter of fact, my House will personally send ten of our Lightbuilders to assist with the reconstruction, free of charge, naturally.” Lymena’s words caused quite a few shaken reactions, though she maintained her smile through it all. Even Ymmir glanced at her oddly, wondering what she was doing. Looks like the Duke looked deep into just how much money I’ve earned…

“… many thanks, Lady Lymena.” Ymmir stood up once again and bowed toward her.

“It is only right to do so.” She echoed Noah’s words, taking a sip of wine in front of her, appearing wholly nonchalant.

Though the probing stage was still on, she had pushed it forward considerably. Even if Noah didn’t exactly know why, it did help him; after all, everyone right now was putting on pretenses of good faith, but there was only so much they were willing to sacrifice for the empty pretenses.

“Lady Lymena sure feels generous,” Prince Prestol joined in. “How can I possibly lag behind? I will also arouse the ire of ten Royal Builders and task them with helping. After all, Brightfort is the defensive bastion of South, and though the Kindled have been dealt with, many other enemies might encroach upon us. It is necessary we repair it as quickly as possible.”

A few more people echoed similar sentiments, until over eighty professional builders were promised to the somewhat shocked Ymmir. Even he expected, at most, some Royal Crowns and a few builders, so this came as a massive shock.

Lymena glanced at Noah and winked stealthily before taking another sip of wine, turning to silence, which the entire hall followed soon after. The atmosphere grew slightly awkward, though not for long as a stalwart man stood up and bowed toward the floating woman. He appeared to be in his late forties, square-jawed, silver-haired and silver-eyed, several scars crisscrossing on his face. Someone from Drath House?

“Light Mother,” the man said in a somber tone. “I propose similar distribution across the board; while House Myrsell had suffered, so have the rest of us – monetary and soulfully. It will take some time to recover, and with the Holy War looming on the horizon, I propose we suspend internal conflicts and maintain the current status.” Nods of approval quickly filtered out as Noah held back a frown. If it were anyone else, perhaps he could interfere and propose a counter-argument, but against the largest house of the Kingdom… even he didn’t dare.

“Oh? You’ve suffered, Lyndo?” to his shock, and the shock of many others, a melodic voice full of scorn echoed right after as dozens of pairs of eyes shot toward the source – Lymena. She still maintained her smile, though now it had a trace of disdain in it. “I suppose trekking all the way from the far North must have been terribly exhausting. In lieu of that, I’ll personally arrange a day for you at my House’s famous hot springs. It will rest you better than any other thing in the world.” Lord Lyndo frowned, his gaze turning somewhat cold; most people present had odd expressions on their face, as the current string of events was extremely unexpected.

“What might you mean, Lady Lymena?” the man asked in a low growl. “Are you suggesting none of us here have suffered?”

“Oh, a few have,” Lymena said with a chuckle. “You, or me, however, did not.”

“…” the temperature seemed to drop immediately to the point that even Noah sucked in a cold breath. The balls of this chick… holy crap…

“I have another proposal,” she said. “Why don’t we award ourselves an Artefact each due to our insurmountable sacrifices? If that is not enough, perhaps we can ask Dark Sires to craft us each a Soul Weapon. After all, walking all the way here and sitting in these uncomfortable chairs truly has been a grave sacrifice on my part.”

“Watch your words, Lady Lymena,” Lord Lyndo said, his frown deepening. “Are you disrespecting the Dark Sires?”

“I wouldn’t dare to,” she raised her arms innocently, though still maintaining her smile. Oi, you’re accelerating shit too much. Slow down! Noah truly wished he had the power to use his mind to communicate with others rather than his Dark at the moment. “I am merely wondering, aloud, how many lies are you willing to spew in front of the Holy Mother herself?”

“That’s enough, Lymena,” the woman spoke out, frowning slightly. “Are you trying to sow discord between us?”

“…” Lymena merely smiled, saying nothing and going back to drinking her wine.

“She is young, Holy Mother,” Prince Sigmund said. “And merely spoke out of turn. Let us not take it to heart.” However, even his words weren’t able to curb increasingly more awkward atmosphere, as anyone who suggested self-rewarding right now would truly be hard-pressed to rationalize it.

“… if I may, Light Mother?” Noah latched onto the brief opportunity and raised his voice, inviting quite a few gazes onto himself that he promptly ignored.

“You may.” The woman said after brief silence.

“Your Holiness Herself had ultimately defeated the damned invaders,” Noah said. “It is solely due to Your Grace that we are gathered here today, and by right, Your Holiness had sacrificed the most of us all. As such, my Princess had ordered me to express Her highest gratitude, and had promised to personally send you a symbolic gift once she recovers. Though nothing under sun can compensate Your Holiness’ sacrifice, I truly do hope You will accept my Princess’ honest heart.” Aii, looks like just about everyone wants to skewer me and fry me alive…

His words immediately froze the hall, and even the floating woman looked at him with faint shock in her eyes. Only Lymena seemed unperturbed, still sipping her wine casually, glancing around the room with a faint smile.

“Dacent Noah, I believe, is correct,” she quickly chimed in. “Your Holiness, I would also like to prepare a symbolic gift for You as a representative of House Fyrost, to express our deepest gratitude for Your sacrifice.”

All avenues of retreat were sealed at that moment, and even Noah was shocked at the young woman’s decisiveness in the matter. Effectively, she had crippled her own potential for massive rewards, and did so with a free smile on her face. Likewise, she had antagonized everyone in the room – including the two Princes who couldn’t wipe a frown from their faces. While Noah’s suggestion had elicited a negative response across the board, at the very least it was disguised as a plea of gratitude for saving the Princess’ life. On the other hand, Lymena’s approval was like a chain that bound all their fates together. Haah, are they really putting all their cards with me? Looks like bragging about my ‘organization’ really came to bite me in the ass…